Staffing shortages at Rotorua Hospital’s emergency department have left gaps “equivalent to 140 shifts a fortnight”, a whistleblower claims.
The whistleblower emailed Stuff anonymously, “to ensure I do not lose my job”, with a description of working conditions at the hospital and health boss’s letter to staff about their health and safety concerns – which mentions staff picking up 12-hour shifts.
“Our emergency department is struggling,” the whistleblower says. “We are in crisis.”
“We are facing extreme staff shortage. We are currently 13.89 FTE [full time equivalent roles] down and increasing, that is equivalent to 140 shifts a fortnight in gaps.
“That is roughly 10 shifts in 24 hours vacant. 1 shift = 1 nurse,” they say.
Te Whatu Ora Lakes is “concerned”, interim director Nick Saville-Wood told Stuff. It’s recruiting, sending in agency nurses and will soon add health care assistants to help with the load.
The whistleblower’s comments came as no surprise to New Zealand Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels.
While Daniels declined to discuss any specific hospital or department, she says that New Zealand is short 21,000 nurses.
That’s based on Australian nurse-to-patient ratios, she says, because vacancy figures presented a false picture by only showing funded roles.
She feels there's a lack of transparency around the true shortage and, while she understands not wanting to undermine public confidence in the health system, she says patient risk increases without the...
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